Mariners: 3 takeaways from lost series versus the Oakland Athletics

The Seattle Mariners again fell to below .500 on the season, courtesy of a series loss to the AL West-leading Oakland Athletics.

Once more, just as everything seemed to be falling into place for the Mariners, the baseball gods decided to throw some curveballs at the organization. First up, they lost two straight to the Athletics, to give the visitors the series.

Things had started well on Monday afternoon, as the result of a thrilling 6-5 extra innings victory. This was their fifth consecutive win and seventh in the previous eight games.

However, this was followed by a rare poor outing by the bullpen on Tuesday, as they gave up six runs in the seventh on the way to a 12-6 loss. Oakland then clinched the series on Wednesday, winning 6-0 courtesy of a complete game shutout by Sean Manaea.

In truth though, it was what happened off the field which was tougher for the Mariners and their fans to take. In particular, another injury to Kyle Lewis, which happened during Monday’s game.

Lewis was subsequently placed on the 10-day injured list with a meniscus tear in his right knee. And it’s not a good sign, when manager Scott Servais says he’s “hopeful” the outfielder will return at some point this season.

Losing the 2020 AL Rookie of the Year is undoubtedly a big blow for the Mariners. His defense was as consistent as ever and his bat had been warming up of late.

Just to add to the adversity for Seattle, Justin Dunn has also been placed on the 10-day IL with right shoulder inflammation. He has been a key member of the rotation so far this year and fans will be hoping this is just a precautionary measure.

Next up for the Mariners is a four-game set against the Angels in Los Angeles. Before then however, here are our takeaways and other notes from the home series versus the Athletics:

3) Gilbert showing encouraging growth

When it comes to two of the Mariners’ top young prospects, they appear headed in opposite directions. While Jarred Kelenic has mostly struggled with his bat — more on him in a bit — Logan Gilbert has been showing steady signs of improvement.

We appreciate Gilbert has only made four starts so far in the Majors. However, this shouldn’t lessen the significance of Monday afternoon being his best outing yet for Seattle.

That it came against a good Athletics ball club only makes the performance more encouraging. The 24-year-old had his longest start yet as he pitched 6.0 innings, while matching his early-career high of five strikeouts.

Gilbert allowed five hits, only one walk and just two earned runs, which reduced his ERA to 5.94. While this is still higher than what you would like, consider that it was at 9.45 following his second start.

Of course there is obviously still a lot more expected from the right-handed pitcher. In this respect, while he did mix in some other pitches, he is still relying primarily on his fastball.

In fairness to Gilbert though, his best pitch was still tough for the Athletics to contend with, at one point essentially reaching 98 mph. Overall, 54 of his pitches were fastballs.

In total, the 2018 14th overall draft pick threw 80 pitches. This proved to be an excellent balance between not overexerting himself and still giving Seattle six valuable innings.

Gilbert’s control seems to be continuing to improve, although just 47 of his pitches were called strikes. However, this almost seems like a bit of nitpicking on a day when he showed more of what he is truly capable of.

At one point there was talk of the Apopka, Florida native only remaining in the rotation until others starters returned from injury. However, with every appearance he is showing more and more that he deserves to stick around.

As you would expect, Gilbert was faced with some testing situations – in the third and fifth innings specifically. That he showed his ability to bounce back from adversity is a good sign.

After the game, Gilbert dicussed his mindset and what he was aiming to achieve on the mound. Speaking to the media, he said:

“I was just trying to do the best for my team and put us in a position to win. Of course I want to go as deep as I can, help the bullpen out and all that kind of stuff, especially when people are playing so well around me.

“(Donovan Walton) had the huge home run and the bullpen always does a great job … So I felt like it was my turn to step up and try to do everything I could for the team.”

The Mariners will understandably be hoping Gilbert continues to develop in the coming weeks. His next start is scheduled to come on Sunday in Los Angeles.

NEXT: A WELCOME RETURN